SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHINESE NEW Year Concert & Emerald Banquet took place on February 1 at Davies Symphony Hall. Attended by over 2,500 guests at the concert and about 520 patrons at the banquet, the event raised over $1 million benefit the Symphony’s myriad education and community programs which serve over 75,000 students in Bay Area elementary, middle, and high schools each year. Chaired by Lawrence and Gorretti Lui, the event was a colorful celebration of the Lunar New Year—the Year of the Mouse—drawing upon vibrant Asian traditions past and present. Conductor Perry So made his SF Symphony conducting debut, leading the orchestra in traditional folk music and works by Asian composers, including the U.S. premiere of Huang Ruo’s recently completed “Folk Songs for Orchestra” and Bright Sheng’s “Red Silk Dance.” The eclectic concert program featured sheng player Hu Jianbing, pipa player Yang Wei, pianist Sa Chen, San Francisco Symphony’s cellist Amos Yang, and performers from the Loong Mah Sing See Wui dance company. Unique video projections created by video designer Adam Larsen and Yee Eun Nam accompa-
Edward Collins, John Chen, Margaret Collins, Sherry Chen, Gorretti and Lawrence Lui
nied the performances. A festival reception opened to all ticketholders opened at 4:00 p.m., an hour before the concert began. It featured an array of entertainment and activities in the Davies Symphony Hall lobbies, such as lion dancing, Chinese calligraphy, “lucky” red envelopes, a musical performance by Melody of China, as well as complimentary desserts, wine, and tea bars. A VIP reception for sponsors and top ticket purchasers took place at the same time in the Wattis Room. The soldout concert concluded with a celebratory balloon drop. The glamorous and celebratory Emerald Banquet followed the concert in Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall. Inspired by the vibrant pageantry of traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, unique video projections also accompanied the banquet which featured remarks by event chairs Lawrence and Gorretti Lui, cellist Amos Yang, and President of the Board of Supervisors Norman Yee, who presented the Lawrence and Goretti Lui with official certificates of honor. A lucky draw followed, led by Gorretti and Emerald Banquet chair Tiffany Chang. Banquet entertainment was provided by DJL! and My Opera Institute
Conductor Perry So and wife Anna Graber, Cathy and Norman Yee
of San Francisco, featuring singer Jessica Shum. McCalls Catering & Events catered the banquet. Lighting design by Luke Kritzeck and décor by Gioi Tran and Jared Kendal of Applegate Tran Interiors completed the festive and glorious event. During the banquet, I had the pleasure to be seated next to talented young conductor Perry So and his wife, Anna Graber. So was born in Hong Kong and studied at Yale University. He is known for his wide-ranging programming, including numerous world premieres and works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He is the recipient of the First and Special Prizes at St. Petersburg’s Fifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competition, and the 2012 Diapason d’Or Award for his recording of Barber and Korngold’s Violin Concertos with violinist Alexander Gilman and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. So most recently made his European operatic debut at the Royal Danish Opera House leading Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and his North American operatic debut at Yale Opera with Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. He returned to the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias as the orchestra’s artistic collaborator. He was the inaugural Dudamel Conducting Fellow of the
Iris Chang, Annie Lim Wong, Tiffany Chang, Margaret Liu Collins, Mindy Sun
Los Angeles Philharmonic and served as both assistant and associate conduc-
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